Hello up for sale is NWA 14188 newly classified as an extremely rare Lunar Mare Basaltic Breccia!!! This gorgeous full slice weighs 4.421 grams with translucent shocked clast, green glass filled vein and has a perfect polish to both sides very low weathering and low shock stage!! Breccia composed of basaltic lithic clasts and related crystalline debris (predominantly olivine, pigeonite, subcalcic augite and anorthite) in a finer grained matrix. Accessory phases are Ti-chromite, troilite, kamacite (fresh to partly altered) and minor secondary barite. I recently purchased 81 grams of this rare material from Ahmed Salek and Dustin Dickens purchased the remaining material, it was submitted to the meteoritical bulletin by Craig Zlimen. This is a very rare Lunar Mare Basalt Breccia from the front-side of the moon, making this only the 16th ever!! This lot will come with a COA card and display case. Thanks for your interest and take care.
BRITANNICA says:
Samples of lunar rock and soil brought back by Apollo astronauts proved that the maria are composed of basalt formed from surface lava flows that later congealed. The surface, down to approximately 5 metres (16 feet), shows effects of churning, fusing, and fragmenting as a result of several billion years of bombardment by small meteoroids. This debris layer, comprising rock fragments of all sizes down to fine dust, is called regolith. Before the first unmanned spacecraft landings on the Moon in the 1960s, some astronomers feared that the surface would be so pulverized that the machines might sink in. These missions—and the manned landings that followed—revealed that the regolith was only somewhat compressible and was firm enough to be supportive.
The maria basins were formed beginning about 3.9 billion years ago during a period of intense bombardment by asteroid-sized bodies. This was well after the lunar crust had cooled and solidified enough, following the Moon’s formation, to retain large impact scars. Then, over a period lasting until perhaps three billion years ago, a long sequence of volcanic events flooded the giant basins and surrounding low-lying areas with magma originating hundreds of kilometres within the interior. Although the recognized giant impact basins are distributed similarly on the near and far sides of the Moon, most of the far-side basins were never flooded with lava to form maria. The reason remains to be clarified, but it may be related to an asymmetry of the Moon’s crust, which appears to be about twice as thick on the far side as on the near side and thus less likely to have been completely ruptured by large impacts. Most of the maria are associated with mascons, regions of particularly dense lava that create anomalies in the Moon’s gravitational field.
Name: Northwest Africa 14188
This is an OFFICIAL meteorite name.
Abbreviation: NWA 14188
Observed fall: No
Year found: 2021
Country: Niger
Mass: 260 g
This is 1 of 16 approved meteorites classified as Lunar (bas. breccia)
Northwest Africa 14188 (NWA 14188)
Niger
Purchased: 2021 Feb
Classification: Lunar meteorite (basaltic breccia)
History: Found in Niger and purchased by Craig Zlimen in February 2021 from an Algerian dealer.
Petrography: (A. Irving, UWS and P. Carpenter, WUSL) Breccia composed of basaltic lithic clasts and related crystalline debris (predominantly olivine, pigeonite, subcalcic augite and anorthite) in a finer grained matrix. Accessory phases are Ti-chromite, troilite, kamacite (fresh to partly altered) and minor secondary barite.
Geochemistry: Olivine (Fa37.1-39.1, FeO/MnO = 102-117, N = 4), pigeonite (Fs26.1-28.0Wo9.4-11.4; Fs24.6Wo18.8; FeO/MnO = 56-62; N = 3), subcalcic augite (Fs21.4Wo25.0, FeO/MnO = 55), anorthite (An95.4-95.6Or0.3-0.2, N = 3).
Classification: Lunar (basaltic breccia).
Specimens: 20.0 g including one polished endcut at UWB; remainder with Mr. C Zlimen, M Stream & D Dickens.
Data from:
MB111
Table 0
Line 0:
Place of purchase:Algeria
Date:P 2021 Feb
Mass (g):260
Pieces:1
Class:Lunar (bas. breccia)
Shock stage:low
Weathering grade:low
Fayalite (mol%):37.1-39.1
Ferrosilite (mol%):26.1-28.0; 24.6; 21.4
Wollastonite (mol%):9.4-11.4; 18.8; 25.0
Classifier:A. Irving, UWS, and P. Carpenter, WUSL
Type spec mass (g):20.0
Type spec location:UWB
Main mass:M. Stream, & D. Dickens
Comments:Work name Ahmed 02; submitted by A. Irving